Graduates
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Skye and Ward decide to study for the GED and anxiously await their results.


**I don't own SHIELD and never will. No copyright infringement intended.**

* * *

The decision to try and get their GEDs had actually been pretty easy for Skye and Ward, especially since the team supported their efforts. "Neither of you graduated from high school and you want to better yourselves. There's nothing wrong with that," Coulson told him when the two first approached him about it.

"You really think we can do this?" Ward cursed himself for the random insecurity that only popped up occasionally.

"I know you can do this, Grant. Both of you can. And all of us will be there if and when you need us." Coulson smiled at them and then went to find Trip.

Now, as they waited for the results that would determine whether or not they were high school graduates, Ward and Skye couldn't help but panic. "What if I fail, Ward? What happens then?"

Worried himself, Ward knew he needed to calm her down. "Skye, stop screaming. I'm sure you passed." He was absolutely sure of it.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "But you're no sure about yourself? I'm pretty confident that you passed because you're smart as hell. But I'm not that smart, Ward! I failed everything!"

Ward kissed Skye to calm her down (it didn't help but he felt like doing it anyway). "Shhh, we're going to be fine, baby."

"I know you're lying but thank you for trying. Now kiss me again."

He laughed and obliged. "Love you."

"Love you back. Will you go get me some chocolate?" She needed to stress eat and fuck around on her laptop so she wouldn't think about the results that were coming any day now.

"Of course I would!" Ward headed into the kitchen and raided Skye and Jemma's "secret" chocolate stash Fitz wasn't supposed to know about (he wisely kept away from it and hoarded his own chocolate anyway). He handed the candy bar to Skye before he sat down next to her on the couch.

"Stop shaking your leg," she gently chided after running out of patience.

He apologized and then found a book that he hoped would calm him down. It didn't help much at all.

The day their results arrived, the whole team eagerly gathered around Skye and Ward. "Are you two just going to stand there and make us wait?" Jemma finally asked.

"We're working our way up to it," Skye tried.

May rolled her eyes. "I'd believe that if we hadn't been standing here for half an hour. Open the damn envelopes already."

"Pushy." But Skye found she couldn't do it. She was too scared to do and she was freaking herself out to the point of tears (unhealthy, she knew, but didn't care). She tried to calm herself down but nothing helped.

"We can open them together?" Ward suggested.

Fitz sighed. "Stop acting like babies."

"You stop acting like a baby," Skye shot back. It was weak and no one responded to yet another attempt to stall.

"Just give me the fucking envelopes and I'll read them," Coulson finally snapped.

Skye's eyes widened, and she grabbed Ward's and proceeded to hand both over. She bit a fingernail and held onto Ward's hand with a death grip as they waited for their boss to tell them if they had passed or failed. The team watched over his shoulder so they could also find out first. "This isn't helping," she whispered to her boyfriend.

"It's only making things worse," he agreed.

Trip broke the silence first. "Congratulations – you're high school graduates." Cheers erupted from the group as they processed the results.

Skye and Ward responded by hugging each other and then started making out in front of everyone. "You can stop now." Coulson tapped his foot and smiled when they sprung apart. "I am so proud of you, Grant and Skye. This calls for a celebration."

"Damn right." Trip wanted to get them drunk just so they could ease a lot of stress that had built up in the recent months.

"Go get ready. And do not have a celebratory quickie," May warned as the two of them started to skip away to their shared bunk.

"You know they're having a quickie now, right?" Jemma asked her. May nodded and wished she hadn't said anything to them now.

Sure enough, Skye and Ward did celebrate with a quickie and then returned to the common area dressed up. "We're going out to eat?"

"You two have earned it." Coulson ruffled Skye's hair despite her complaints. Twenty minutes later, they headed for the closest fancy restaurant they could all agree on.

"You two are sickeningly sweet and it's adorable," Jemma commented after they perused the menu and waited for the waitress to return.

"We're like that too," Fitz protested.

He kicked Trip when he laughed. "What about all those times we found you going at it in the lab? Jemma pointed out how unsanitary it was the time she caught Skye and Ward in there." That had been a fun night.

"We should take a vacation," May said, suddenly derailing the topic of conversation.

"Why? We don't have the time." Ward wouldn't even know what to do with himself on vacation. The concept seemed foreign to him.

"AC needs a break – SHIELD is running him ragged. It could be fun." Skye leaned into Ward and grinned. She couldn't believe she was this happy – she had found the family she also wanted and also managed to earn the equivalent of a high school degree. It was surreal.

"We'll talk about it later," Coulson decided. Silence for a second then, "Trip, stop kicking Fitz."

"He started it!"

"No, he did!"

"I don't care who started it, just finish it."

Skye couldn't stop the laughter that escaped. "That was such a dad line. Have you been waiting to bust it out?"

He shrugged. "Maybe?"

Glasses of wine in their hands (Jemma noticed Skye never once took a sip of it and eyed her suspiciously for the rest of the night), the team toasted to Skye and Ward's success. They were all proud of the two of them for deciding to do this.

And nobody (except for Skye) was surprised when Ward put a ring on it after dessert.


End file.
